Maruti Sx4 - why it is a wise buy , Read now. Review on Maruti Suzuki SX4

I am writng this review after decent research on similar cars e.g Ford Fiesta petrol and Disel Honda City ZX - VTEC and base models Exi, GXi

Ford Fiesta  is a great car but it has a disadvantage of dealers satisfaction, heard horror stories and being an Amercian car  has it more maintainance cost over period of time . Servicing network is weak  and offcourse very lower resale value as campared to Japanease cars. Great Driver's car, strong built but not so good looking . No point in buying good car but no support and have hanging sword of  low resale value. Good ground clearance 198 mm. Ford offer good deals.

Honda city Exi, GXi, you should not campare with SX4, it much ahead in every sense. You get only 77 BHP( Similar pick up like Zen, Wagan R and small Cars) with Big body . No power and will not make any sense in going for Big care only for Size. You might as well stick to your small car if you looking at car performance and power. It does not have great riding feel . but it is very good for city rides, give you a great milage around 13-13.5 in city / 14-15 on highways, but certainly not a drivers car like fiesta. It is decade old engin by Honda and safety features are not comparable to with their global / international models like ABS, A Wheels, Air bags etc. Saftey point of view not much to say . Very delicate car . Vitec has  a riding pleasure but I did not feel very secured at high speed on high ways. Another disadvantage of City is low ground clearance. Just 160mm. In rainy season, 2005-6 many of Honda city got stuck in water. Low ground clearnace is a big big issue.Vtec is much better version than EXI/GXI but cost you big money 9 L on road . Not a great value for money . Honda has good reasale value. Spare part are costly as compared to maruti. refine engine

SX4 has many features as campared to Honda city, safety features - like air bags, . Car is strong built and give great pleasure on highway driving due to big wheel base . You feel safe. No dealer network  issues, can be serviced anywhere in India, even in small towns.( Maruti has an advantage over other cars) It is great value for money, cost you VXI - 7 L and ZXI 7.75. Both are good ZXI has good  features( Check out) VXI has basics clear - affordable seden with no worries. Low maintainance . Internationally lauched model, and handsome looks.  It has refined engine, best pick up(slightly  Better than v-tec and fiesta). Good ground clearance 190 mm / Vxi -180 mm( this due to Aloye wheels addtion). car is tall hence feel close to SUV feel somewhat.  No great deals /discounts offered by Maruti like ford. But it will fetch good resale in future( this true for all Maruti cars - Zen, Wagan R, Esteems etc) So less worry in future if you decided for newer models. SX4 average comes to 11-11.5 in city/13-14 on High ways

So my final say  is, you can  compare Honda Vitec or Civic and Sx4 . But SX4 scores over Vitec on Value for money, safety, Looks, delears network and service, cheaper spares . Both are Japnease so Engine is not an issue for both of them . so nothing to worry about Engine aspect in both the cases. Only 2 inches shorter than Civic

Hope you will find this review worth reading

Thanks

Jitendra